In the field of treating contaminated waste, and in particular contaminated medical waste, it is known, for example, to use powerful incinerators or sterilization devices with which it is possible to melt the metal parts of the contaminated waste, for example needles and scalpels, with an electric arc or an electric discharge. These latter devices are relatively heavy and require a source of electrical power, such as a battery or a mains socket, and this limits their portability and their availability to hospitals. Such devices are described, for example, in documents EP-A-0 634 182, WO 94/13346 and WO 94/01153.
These devices, however, cannot generally be installed or used by health professionals such as doctors and nurses outside the hospital environment. Current legislation governing the storage and treatment of contaminated waste thus poses a constant and not inconsiderable problem for them. Indeed, the problem of the portability and functioning of any sterilization device must be taken into consideration for these health professionals, whether in general practice, for example, or in outpatient medicine.
Moreover, application WO-A-90/15419 describes a device for treating medical or contaminated waste by sterilization, this device including a container, one part of which is compressible, and inside which there is arranged at least one hot-melt compound. In a first stage, the container is heated in an oven, optionally equipped with a filter for the gases which are released during the heat treatment, so as to melt the hot-melt compound around the waste, thereby rendering the latter unrecognizable and sterile. In a second stage, the container is compressed to make it possible to enclose the cutting elements forming part of the waste to be sterilized, which elements would risk piercing the container if they were not completely enclosed.
The disadvantage of this solution is that the container forming a chamber is not integral, that is to say not sufficiently robust from a mechanical point of view, because it is deformable by compression, which fact represents a potential danger for third parties if the container were to open, for example when it was being collected by the garbage truck. Moreover, the use of a filter on the wall of the oven also poses many drawbacks, namely:
the need to have an oven which closes hermetically in order to justify its existence; PA1 the need to service the filter in order to prevent it from clogging; PA1 the risk of accidental infection, during such servicing, by microorganisms which have been able to settle therein; PA1 the risk, in the event of clogging, of the assembly exploding because of too great a pressure of gases released in the chamber of the oven; PA1 and the inevitable pollution to the environment when the oven is opened, since it contains potentially dangerous vapors. PA1 introducing contaminated waste into a disposable container forming a sterilization chamber, made of a heat-stable material which is stable under the conditions, particularly the temperature conditions, of sterilization, and for the predetermined operating period of sterilization, the container containing a hot-melt plastic material which is meltable under said conditions of sterilization; PA1 sealing the container irreversibly, before placing it in the oven, by snap-fitting a cover which includes a filter; PA1 placing the container, containing the contaminated waste, in an oven specifically adapted to provide said conditions of sterilisation, in order to ensure complete sterilization of the contaminated waste; PA1 heating the oven under said conditions of sterilization in such a way that the hot-melt plastic material arranged in the disposable container melts and encloses the waste, thereby making the disposable container and the waste non-reusable; PA1 removing from the oven the container containing the waste which has been sterilized and enclosed by the hot-melt plastic material, and disposing of said container.